FRANCE: Red Rhône
2016 Gold: 7 Silver: 6 Bronze: 6 Commended: 9
2015 Gold: 7 Silver: 13 Bronze: 15 Commended: 16
Given that the early rounds saw several tasters complaining about everything from ‘too much reduction’ to a ‘lack of concentration’ in the Côtes du Rhônes, the final results here were impressive. Three of the latter made it on to the Gold List, giving us a trio of terrific food-friendly reds under £10 – the first time that’s happened here for many years. The Ogier Plan de Dieu, incidentally, was a worthy multi-award winner, picking up both a Critics’ Choice and a Food Match Trophy.
Elsewhere, it was more or less good news all the way – as is often the case with this category. We didn’t perhaps get quite the strength in depth that we’re used to seeing here (only six Silvers as opposed to 13 last year) but there was still plenty of good wine, from Gigondas through Châteauneuf all the way up to Hermitage.
The Northern Rhône reds were, as usual, enormously popular, mixing power, elegance, character and sheer drinkability in a winning combination. And well done to Delas; two Golds and a Silver – and none of them over £14 – was a great performance.
FROM THE TASTING TEAMS
‘There was much more freshness in the Southern Rhônes than you’d normally expect. If you’d have taken these wines five years ago, you’d have seen much denser colours, and with these there were lighter, brighter colours. It followed through in what we were tasting. All in all a pretty good category.’ Hamish Anderson, The Tate Group
‘A really good showing [from the Northern Rhônes]: lots of sour cherry, meaty savouriness, and pepper. There were more layers of complexity, more craft, as you went up the price points. The wines kind of unfolded rather than hit you in the face.’ Mark Gurney, Cafe Murano
‘What was great about the Southern Rhône flight is that you could have blind-tasted them and by and large known you were tasting Grenache. There was an identity and a sense of place.’ Peter McDaid, Spring
‘These Northern Rhônes are very food-friendly wines. They cope well with all kinds of dishes, depending on whether you go for a fruit-driven or more earthy style. And you can easily drink a couple of bottles. This is important if you’re trying to make a profit.’ Erik Simonics, The Savoy
‘A touch of brett can bring complexity, but if it doesn’t have any fruit behind it, it’s a problem. In most of the Côtes du Rhônes there was no concentration, they had very short finishes.’ Harry Crowther, M Restaurants